Wednesday

Good morning, everyone.  A much more promising start to the day today with sunshine and a little breeze, not a strong wind, which has reduced the chill considerably, thank goodness.

Happy New July to you with a pinch and a punch!  :-)

Yesterday plodded on with the added excitement of having the scaffolding taken down so now I am back to normal again.
Another added excitement was an email from the dentist to say they can now resume my implant treatment, thank goodness.  It should have been more or less done by now.  Never mind, I have an appointment next week - yay!  As far as I am aware, it is to review the extractions and check that it's ready for the next stage.
Never thought I would be excited about going to the dentist.

I went into town early, picked up my prescription, got some keys cut and wandered round Marks and Spencer's.  As they had cheap T shirts, three for two, it would have been wrong not to - a girl can never have too many T shirts, surely.

The cleaners turned up.  Three of them so they whisked around the house really quickly and left it shining.

I think that was about it yesterday.

A random photo of some flowers a friend brought round on Monday, from her garden - they've opened out beautifully.

Today I have a chat with Chris over the road and then personal training at twelve.  Both could be online or face to face so we must see what the weather is doing.  Apart from that, I have more office work to do (boring) and some tuition to prepare (delivered in the garden so if it's not nice, it's cancelled).

After various long posts recently, I'll keep this short.  Have a lovely day, whatever the weather.  xx

Tuesday

Morning, everyone!  Yesterday was (or felt) so cold that I gave up and turned on the heating morning and evening.  We didn't get much rain but we didn't get much sun either; if it hadn't been for the strong wind, I'd have called it a nothing day.
At the moment, it looks like being pretty much the same today too.

The workmen turned up nice and promptly and set to work.  Again, it was noisy and whatever they used to cut the boards and guttering to size, from inside it sounded very like a loud dentist's drill, setting my teeth on edge.  Not a nice feeling at all!

They had finished soon after midday and really, that's it.  They were meticulous about checking the bill over with me to make sure that it all came to the original amount quoted, something I appreciated as it was a niggling worry at the back of my mind.  Time alone will tell as regards the actual work itself, but I can't fault their work ethic, their 'customer relations' and their attention to hygiene.
Now I'm just waiting to hear when the scaffolding will come down again.

Once they had gone, I popped out, first to the allotment and then on to Aldi.
At the allotment, I just watered.  I intend going again, either later on today or early tomorrow, to continue with the weeding and to mow the grass properly.
I took a few photos so you can see how things are coming along.

 The strip along the front (you can see the poor apple tree at the back with the dropped branch) with the sunflowers, tomatoes, squash, courgettes and mini cucumbers.

And here's the first baby courgette.  Beth said 'Fight you for it!!' but there are two more much the same size so I doubt any allotment argy-bargy will be necessary!

I was so worried about the runner beans, wasn't I?  They are fine, growing nicely and developing flower buds now.  The first ones usually fall off - nature knows best - but it shouldn't be too long.
(the smudge was a mark on the camera lens).

 Our local, friendly aphid eating ladybird.  I hope she stays around and brings her friends with her!

I went to Aldi to get specific things but, as always, a few more things appeared in the trolley.  I got the skinny sausages and happy chicken I needed, so that was fine.
At home, after putting things away, I had a mega-tidy up of my work table.  It desperately needed it anyway but the cleaners are coming today, postponed from last Friday, so it will help them too.

Today, I'm off out into town first thing, mainly to collect my prescription from Boots.  I've checked the opening times for Timpson's (and that it is, indeed, now open) and will have some new front door keys cut.  Beth, Dave and my dad all have keys, I need one for the cleaners and one for my emergency keys as well as a few spare and the door came with three.  They're not cheap but they are necessary.

There's no Zoom meeting this morning as it's been changed to Thursday, and Chris is off to Hyde Hall so we've changed the coffee and chat to tomorrow.
That's all good because I have paperwork I really need to catch up on as well as the tidying up and today I have the time and space to do so.  The forecast isn't great so I won't be tempted outside.
It won't be a fun day but it will be a good and useful day.

Stay safe.  xx

Monday

Morning, everyone.  The weather was so variable yesterday.  We had sun, rain, wind . . . and some more rain overnight.  Today is supposed to be 'light cloud and a fresh breeze' and the breeze certainly is fresh as I discovered when I went to get today's stuff out of the freezer.  Brrrr.

Looky look!!!

First beans and first potatoes.  This is a third of what we picked/dug up as it was shared between me, Beth and Alex.  The beans are pretty small and maybe we should have left them a bit longer but . . .
So this evening it's salmon, broad beans, new potatoes and some other veg of some kind (most likely broccoli).  Couldn't have it last night as dinner was already prepared before I went to the allotment.

The corn is shooting up, as are the runners, the sunflowers have buds, the tomatoes have flowers, there's one cucumber to pick soon, the squashes have now decided to stay around and are starting to spread and we have three little (VERY little) yellow courgettes.  You'd not know they were there except that they are yellow so show up, unlike below the male flowers!

And lots and lots of weeds - although fewer weeds than yesterday morning!  We fight back!

However - oh, dear.

Just too much fruit.  Shame but there you go.  It's still partly attached so we'll leave it there and see.  We can deal with it later on in the year.

We were cut short by some heavy rain but, despite the rain we've been having over the weekend, parts  of the ground were pretty dry.  Hopefully I can go today (leaving the guttering men working) and give everything a good soaking as well as attacking more weeds.

Today, apart from a possible allotment visit, is empty as I'll need to be around most of the day - and certainly later on to pay out another highly eye-watering cheque.  That's the last one though, thank goodness.

What do you have planned for today?  xx


P.S. does anyone know the name of this grass, please?

Sunday

Good morning, everyone.  The sun is out again and it is significantly fresher with a bit of a breeze and signs of more rain overnight.  Perfect, just what the vegetables need.

Yesterday, I set off for Sainsbury's good and early, aiming to get there soon after seven.  I haven't been to Sainsbury's since before Christmas, I think, certainly not since lockdown, so I was interested to have a good nosey round at a time when there were very few others there.
I have plenty of clothes, I don't need any more clothes so how come four garments hopped into my trolley when I wasn't looking, eh?
To be fair, they were in the sale and they will be worn.  A cotton top, a lightweight denim skirt, a checked shirt and some pink jeans, all useful.  I wonder if I will ever become totally accustomed to heading straight for the size 12s.  Somehow, after a lifetime of much larger sizes, it feels somehow a bit magical and very unreal.  As for skinny jeans - totally crazy!!

It was fun, meandering around.  I didn't get much else and when I was through checkout, I stepped outside to realise that I'd missed what had obviously been a very heavy downpour.
That put paid to any plans to mow the grass at the allotment and, in fact, it rained on and off for most of the morning although I did get a bit of washing out on the line and dried between showers.

Late morning the workmen turned up and now all the doors and windows work is finished and paid for (OUCH!).  Tomorrow it's the guttering, etc, and then that's all finished.  Now I need to start sorting out the garage and need a plan of action.  It's so confusing in there that one could sped lots of time not really getting anywhere much at all.

I think that first of all I will deal with the cardboard boxes.  Flatten them out and get them into the recycling sack.  Then I have loads and loads of glass jars which, thinking realistically, I won't ever use again.  I'll keep some for any jamming/pickling I do but I don't need that many.  I think I will offer them on Facebook and see if anyone is interested (so I'd better keep just a few of the more sturdy boxes to put them in.  I expect that some will end up in the glass recycling box though.

That would get me started anyway!

Today, I will be meeting Beth at the allotment this afternoon.  I'll make a judgement as to whether to mow the grass nearer the time but I can strim the edges anyway.  We're going to dig up one potato plant, just to see (exciting) and there may be a small picking of broad beans as well, it depends how much they have come on in the last few days.
During this coming week, weather permitting, I'm going to blitz those weeds; they love warm and damp as much as the vegetables do.

In the garden, everything's coming on.  There are three mini cucumber/gherkins to cut and the Tayberry That Refused to Die (remember?) is sending out the first decent fruit of its life.  Not loads and some of the berries are feeble and not worth the picking, but some are looking good.  Promising for next year as there's already plenty of new growth from the roots.  It's like blackberries, you train them alternate ways, each year, cutting the fruited canes right back to the soil over winter.

The ornamental grass is now 'flowering' and looking very attractive.

And some of the fuchsia plants are starting to earn their space.

There's loads of tomato flowers on rapidly growing trusses and lots of baby fruits.  Lovely!

So, what with potatoes, cucumbers and, possible, broad beans, it may not be that prolific in the wider scheme of things or compared to others, but it's all very satisfying indeed.

And now I will enjoy a day without bangs and crashes and strangers invading my privacy! 
I hope you enjoy your day too.  xx

Saturday

Good morning!
We had quite heavy rain for a while - enough to mean I didn't need to water down the allotment - and the garden breathed several grateful sighs.  Then out came the sun again and the rest of the day got hotter and hotter.  I sat under the tree!

The chap doing the garage door turned up, worked and left me with a shiny new garage door.  I should have taken a photo of the old one which was as old as the house itself, an up and over one and very, very rickety.
Now:

IT's more or less the same colour as the fencing which isn't important as the garage is separate but it is somehow satisfying.

The 'window boys' (boys??) got stuck on the M25.  It was closed at some point between the M1 and the A12 as a lorry had overturned, I gather, so they were late.  As a result, they didn't do the front door (and one of the windows is sticking) so they'll be back this afternoon to get that sorted.

The guttering, etc, will be done on Monday and the scaffolding will be down by Thursday.  I'll be glad when it goes - my bedroom view of garden and countryside is  - er - shall we say obscured?

Not a pretty sight!

The baby cucumbers are coming thick and fast now.  I cut the second one the day before yesterday and there are two more that will be ready in a couple of days with more coming behind them.

About three inches long and very crunchy and delicious!

Must look up some pickling recipes!

I only have about three poppies but they are lovely at the moment and I think next year I will leave a few more babies in the ground.  I love their shape, colour and, most of all, I love the seed pods.

I was planning to make some seed pods in clay to stick on canes as a garden decorations.  Ah, well, maybe, when things are safer again, it will resume.  Pottery is one of the things I am really missing.

Today I don't have many plans which is just as well, given the men are back to finish the work.

I guess I need to change the sheets (so washing to do) and I have to put up the curtains in the front bedroom and, hopefully, in the blue room too, assuming they can fix the sticking window.  Before they come, I'm hoping to get to the allotment to mow and strim the grass before it totally takes over. 

I've just remembered; when I was at Dad's and sorting things out, I came across some table linen and brought back a lovely table cloth and napkin set which I popped into the machine and left (without washing) just to get them out of the way.
And then I forgot.
So I need to get them washed first thing and out on the line.

I'd better get started then, hadn't I? 
Have a great day, everyone, and stay safe.  xx

Friday

Good morning, everyone.  I woke early again (early for me = around four) and right now the sky is a very odd colour.  it looks rather ominous. 

I've just checked Beeb weather, to see, and - oh, dear!

Small wonder the sky is looking odd.

Yesterday was lovely - in certain places.  Out in the sun, it was very, very hot but inside with fans on and outside in the shade of the tree it was absolutely beautiful with a cool breeze.  Perfect.

This is where I spent a good part of the afternoon.

I felt incredibly sorry for the two men putting up the scaffolding.  I'd been told I mustn't offer any drinks, etc, they would bring their own, which makes sense in the current situation but poor chaps.
The scaffolding is now up and work starts today (hopefully).

I did warn the neighbours!

I sorted out two bedrooms and took down the curtains so all is ready.  I've left my own bedroom curtains up for now, of course.  Apart from that, I did precious little.  Nice day.

Today, I expect, will be more of the same.  I need to go shopping but will have to find out if/when I need to be around so it won't be an early morning shop.  I've managed to put off the cleaners until next week.  There will be enough people milling around in the house without two cleaners adding to the general confusion.

It's getting blacker and blacker and I need another coffee to console me so I'll stop now, get my coffee and pop upstairs to bathe and get dressed.
Have a good day, whatever happens to your weather, and be safe.  xx

Thursday

Morning.  Wasn't yesterday a glorious day?  Today looks like being exactly the same although Friday might bring thunder storms.  Time will tell!

I'm awake very early this morning - just after six.  That's OK, I need some time to myself before the workmen all arrive - some to put up the scaffolding and others to start replacing doors/windows, etc.

First thing yesterday, I popped a note on the door in case the double glazing delivery arrived and made my way to the garage (it's a separate block at the back of the house) where I proceeded to clear some space for the workmen.  It wasn't as bad as I thought - well, it was, but it was more easily sorted - temporarily.
Apart from the Christmas stuff, gopak tables, paint pots and heavier garden stuff, there are loads of glass jars, plastic storage boxed (both very filthy) and lots of cardboard boxed for stuff that came and I didn't throw the box straight out in case there were any problems.
And dust.  So much dust!!  And dead leaves!

I chucked some stuff into the bin which is now full and out for collection.  I've flattened some boxes ready for collection today too.  I've made a note in the diary to carry on once the work is all done because, really, there's not a lot of work.  It will necessitate organising a trip to the dump with Beth to help at some point but it's not as bad as I thought it was.  Nor was it as hot and sweaty as I'd finished soon after nine.

I looked online for, and found, some metal storage shelving that will be perfect for keeping things in better order, once the mess has been cleared.  That should make a big difference to the look of it all and enable me to see exactly what I have.  It also means that now I will HAVE to do it - always a Good Thing.

One golden find.  A fan, still in its original box (but not any more!)..  I will appreciate it in the next few days, I expect.

Lindsey messaged me to say that it was like an oven on her patio so we decided it would be better to have personal training online.  Such a shame in this lovely weather but , as they say, mad dogs and Englishmen!  It was very comfy inside, not too hot at all, although I had the fan ready, just in case.

All the stuff arrived after lunch and is now shared between garden and garage.  I can hardly believe it's going to happen after spending so long thinking about it and then having it postponed.

When Mel came round, we sat under the shade of the tree where it was pleasantly warm and with a refreshing breeze.  It really was lovely, not too hot at all, although out in the sun it was baking.  It really is a lovely place to sit.  I took this photo yesterday morning - you can just see the shade starting in the top corner and by about two thirty the whole of that corner is in shade, almost down to the archway between the two beds.

Today, I doubt I am doing anything special.  The diary is empty and there will be workmen around.  One of my 'mums' suggested I restart tuition in the garden next week and I am happy to give this a go and see if it works and  I can probably plan for that session today; not that it takes much planning as it will be an assessment lesson.

By the end of the day, I should have scaffolding up and I think the garage doors will be in although I may have got that a bit wrong.  Something new will be in, anyway.  And it will be HOT!

Stay well, happy and as cool as you can manage.  xx